People around me expressed concerns about Google Location History more frequently than about any other privacy topic in recent years (including Snowden). The visualisation of their personal data suddenly seems to make always-logged on Facebook users concerned about their privacy.<p>But they don't seem to connect the dots and only see Google here. Yet many other parties already have the same data about them, e.g. mobile carriers.<p>In 2011 a delegate of the German green party asked his wireless carriers for his location data and made a decent visualisation from it, provoking a discussion about metadata:
<a href="https://www.zeit.de/datenschutz/malte-spitz-vorratsdaten" rel="nofollow">https://www.zeit.de/datenschutz/malte-spitz-vorratsdaten</a><p>Given that location history is turned off by default and that they, unlike e.g. mobile carriers allow you to delete or download your own data in raw format any time with a button click I am less concerned about it than about other current internet privacy topics. I may be wrong.
Heres one for you. Years ago, when realtime traffic data was released on maps, I had an argument with a friend. I claimed that the only way they could get that accuracy was by recording the cell data of every single android user and validate the (ever changing) coverage maps through those users with GPS enabled (say while using maps for directions). What had me convinced was that around that time in my city nobody used google maps, most were on low-end androids and few phones had GPS enabled as it would eat your battery. Yet the traffic stats were realtime and accurate. My friend refused to believe they would be brazen enough to do that.<p>I remain convinced I was right. But strangely enough - it didn't annoy me much. Because out of all the things they could have used that data, they went ahead and built an incredibly useful product by solving a difficult technical data-related problem and then made it public and free. Compare that with what your bank and telco are doing.<p>That said, Im not commenting on the ethics. Even with the opt in, people are not really aware their locations are being tracked. We don't know what the data is used for or who it's shared with (looking at you - NSA). It's a breech of trust. Though it will be a shame to see realtime traffic stats go down :P
I can't help but think that there's some competitors' money behind these attacks on Google... They provide location services which you can turn off or delete yourself, which is anonymous to anyone else, and there's no evidence they sell your data (they just anonymously connect you to businesses you search for). Versus carriers which track you without an option to opt-in or out and actually do sell your data to 3rd parties.
More detail on the practices being complained about here: <a href="https://www.forbrukerradet.no/side/google-manipulates-users-into-constant-tracking/" rel="nofollow">https://www.forbrukerradet.no/side/google-manipulates-users-...</a>
Google can track everything I do, and present much of that to me in a pretty easy to use interface. But it’s unable to show me how much money my clicks generated. Many of the links presented to me are brokered by google, they know how much a click is worth, because it accounts for it when it charges the advertiser, but it can’t tell me how much money was transferred from my click.
I have a few questions:<p>1. A company is offering services in exchange of personal information.<p>2. Clients are perfectly voluntarily and most of them knowingly using those services, volunteering their personal information.<p>3. Why in hell should a third party forbid the above mentioned two parties to conduct business under the treat of physical retaliation (being thrown to jail or shot in case you resist arrest)? Isn't it yet another "crime" without a victim? Don't we have way too many of those "crimes" already? How exactly are those regulators better than Shariah "politicians"?